There are so many points I'd like to make about Evan Bayh's retirement. I am going to stick to two.
First, I think Matt Sledge's post makes a lot of great points, but my conclusion is slightly different. What's really different now is not that DC has turned more partisan, it's that it has turned more and more transparent. Having spouses on payroll of companies that were supporting you was old news for lots of years. It's just that now more and more people know and when his wife was paid more than $2 million in two years, they kind of figured the company that paid her got their money's worth.
Poor Evan. His wife was pocketing a million plus a year from health care boards and in the good old days, no one would have known, but now, it's just so sad, people think that that is somehow buying a Senator -- tragic, really.
The second thing is now people are wondering where Evan's $13,000,000 war chest is going. Will he give it to the Senate campaign committees or to some other group?
This just annoys the crap out of me.
Evan -- and all the people in DC who don't get this simple fact --- it's not your money.
People gave you the money to run for office, fair enough.
You're not running.
So give it back.
And yes, it is that simple.
Look at it this way. You're working late at the office and someone gathers funds for a pizza run but then doesn't go get the pizza -- they don't keep the money, right?
It's a simple, moral, basic question my seven-year-old can answer.
It's not your money Evan.
Give it back.
Follow James Boyce on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jamesboyce
Hey Boyce, news flash. That 13 million isn't YOUR money either.
Next time, show a little more class (and some restraint) by keeping your grab reflex (when it comes to money) in check.
At least wait for the ink to dry on the press release.
Congress has much bigger problems than YOUR interest in Bayh's 13 million dollar war chest.
Admitting Senator Bayh has a very valid point would be a step forward.
Oh yes, admirable in every way. Right.
and i gotta agree with this author's sentiments... AWWWWW you pooor pooor baby's you mean you can't pocket insane amounts of money from corporations and get away with it without a word, how HORRIBLE.
Is it a conflict of interest that Evan Bayh and his wife have successful careers in the public and private sectors respectively? Ms Bayh resume indicates that she climbed to where she is par her talent and independent of her husband.
People need to make choices. The couple could have chosen for Evan not to become a Senator, and for Mrs Bayh to pursue her lobbying career. Or, they could have done what they did, and have Evan become a Senator.
Once he was Senator, her activities on corporate boards and lobbying cannot help but convey the perception of corruption. If someone has the opportunity to serve the country as one of 100 Senators, they owe more to the country to prevent even the perception of corruption than they do to themselves.
Evan Bayh’s political philosophies, voting records, extending from the time he was Indiana’s Attorney General, Governor and to the current as a senator have been consistent. His records bear very close similarities with other Democrats elected in Republican Red states over the decades.
To impugn a person’s character because of differences in political ideologies and philosophies is a prejudice and smear we have to be on our guard at all times.
KthxBayh
:)